This site is updated Thursday at noon with a new article about an artistic pursuit generally considered to be beneath consideration. James Schellenberg probes science-fiction, Carol Borden draws out the best in comics, Chris Szego dallies with romance, and Ian Driscoll stares deeply into the screen.
While the writers have considerable enthusiasm for their subjects, they don't let it numb their critical faculties. Tossing away the shield of journalistic objectivity and refusing the shovel of fannish boosterism, they write in the hopes of starting honest and intelligent discussions about these oft-enjoyed but rarely examined artforms. Click here for the writer's bios and their individual takes on the gutter.
Recent Features
Marvel's Kings of the Night Time World
In 1977, the most powerful band on earth was KISS with their pyrotechnics, monster boots and the largest army a band had ever fielded, the KISS Army, fully prepared to rock and roll all nite, party every day and read comics in between. Marvel had their ever-lovin' fingers on the pulse of the youth and put out two KISS comics, 1977's A Marvel Comics Super Special: KISS and its 1979 sequel, A Marvel Super Special: KISS
Tomorrow (November 7, if I post this on time), Toronto’s Trash Palace is showing a print of Frank Perry’s The Swimmer. If you’re in the city, do yourself a favour: go see it. If you’re elsewhere (I understand the internets now extend beyond the GTA), do yourself a favour: go rent it.
Most writers get into the Romance genre because they read it, and they read it because they love it. Each writer is drawn to the genre for different reasons, of course. Whether the concentration on character; the focus on primary relationships; or the essence of the triumph of hope, the many appeals of the happy ending hook writers the same way they hook readers. Elizabeth Lowell, on the other hand, got into it for the money.
It kind of goes without saying that the Romance genre is full of tropes and archetypes (though just to be clear: the happy ending is not archetype, but architecture). Some come in plot form: the rags-to-riches story, for instance, a modern take on the Cinderella mythos. Sometimes they pertain to character: the driven career woman forced to reassess her priorities, or the survivor of a bad marriage learning to trust again. Occasionally character archetypes can read less like original patterns than faded photocopies, and stock characters become exhausted pastiches. One character archetype that’s occasionally misrepresented and often misunderstood - though never out of favour - is the character of the alpha male.
What is the alpha male? In Romance terms, he’s the quintessential tough-guy hero. He’s the man with command presence, the one who gets things done. He has abundant physical and mental strength, and tends to use both in his everyday life. Gorgeous isn't the same thing as attractive, and though he may not be the first, he is definitely the second. Alpha heroes are cops and firefighters, cutthroat businessmen and land-owning dukes. Men respect them and women want them. They are the top of the food chain - and they know it.
Which, frankly, should be thoroughly unappealing. We know that power corrupts, and we’ve all seen the damage that results when cops and businessmen go bad (though these days maybe not so much with the dukes). But in the Romance genre, the strength and drive of the alpha male is always, always coupled with something the real world often lacks: a bone-deep sense of responsibility. The alpha male knows himself accountable, and considers himself in service, to the world... and especially to those in his immediate vicinity.
Hey, look at that: the brutish thug just got more appealing. Competence itself is attractive: competence wielded by someone on behalf of those who need it is doubly so. But that isn’t the whole, or even the main, reason the alpha male is so popular in the genre. There’s also the primal fascination of the power fantasy he represents. And no, I don’t mean that kind of fantasy. It’s not about sex; it’s about power. Specifically the kind of power that love can have, even over a spirit as indomitable as the alpha male’s. Because that straight-ahead tough guy, defender of the downtrodden and all-round swashbuckler, is incomplete without his heroine - and he knows that too.
Think about that, the scope of it. The human male is the most dangerous animal on earth. He is capable of the kind of destruction that makes mere earthquakes and tsunami seem like they’re not even trying. The alpha male is a particularly vigorous example of his species. But his goal is to protect, not destroy. And in the right hands, he will bend. He will change.
He doesn't undergo a complete personality change, of course. But when an alpha hero meets his heroine, the original immovable object recognizes the pull of the irresistable force. And he likes it enough that he chooses to bend. Think taming a tiger is tough? I’ve said this before, and it’s still true: the central fantasy of the modern romance is not that women want to be dominated, but that men are capable of change.
To fully experience the alpha male hero, my number one recommendation has to be Linda Howard. Her heroes epitomize the alpha male, though I’d suggest trying her earlier novels first. Dream Man, for instance (she's a psychic; he's a detective; there's a serial killer), or After The Night (woman rises out of poverty, and meets her hometown hero again as an adult. But more complicated). Her McKenzie's Mountain reinvented the alpha hero for the category audience, and the follow up, McKenzie's Mission was also a winner. Also good was Loving Evangeline if you can find a copy -- but for the love of all you hold dear, avoid the made-for-TV film. Not only is it truly terrible, but its resemblance to Howard’s story ends with the characters’ names.
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Chris Szego is attracted to competence, and occasionally envious.
"I’ve said this before, and it’s still true: the central fantasy of the modern romance is not that women want to be dominated, but that men are capable of change."
"I’ve said this before, and it’s still true: the central fantasy of the modern romance is not that women want to be dominated, but that men are capable of change."
oh, hai! Jay Dixit ponders the humanity in lolcats (and talks to The New Yorker's cartoons editor about them):
"By articulating profound feelings through cats and marine mammals
speaking garbled English, we're able to shroud genuine emotions in
pseudo-irony -- which means those animals can evoke deeper emotions
without fear of mockery or cheapness."
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The Artful Gamer ponders interactivity, engagement and narrative in videogames: "Instead of beating our collective heads against the wall as we try to
design games that let players live out their wildest desires, we should
be developing worlds that encourage players to explore them as living,
breathing, places."
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Before there were Hong Kong movies, there were Shanghai movies. 1929's Red Heroine is the only surviving silent kung fu feature from Shanghai's golden age. The Devil's Music Ensemble provides live accompaniment. Hopefully, they'll tour. Wise Kwai has more information and a trailer.
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View all Notes here. Seen something shiny? Gutter-talk worth hearing? Let us know!
In 1977, the most powerful band on earth was KISS with their pyrotechnics, monster boots and the largest army a band had ever fielded, the KISS Army, fully prepared to rock and roll all nite, party every day and read comics in between. Marvel had their ever-lovin' fingers on the pulse of the youth and put out two KISS comics, 1977's 
Which, frankly, should be thoroughly unappealing. We know that power corrupts, and we’ve all seen the damage that results when cops and businessmen go bad (though these days maybe not so much with the dukes). But in the Romance genre, the strength and drive of the alpha male is always, always coupled with something the real world often lacks: a bone-deep sense of responsibility. The alpha male knows himself accountable, and considers himself in service, to the world... and especially to those in his immediate vicinity.